THE Cub Report, Version- Ka Ching, Ca$h Money!

Whoaaaaa… did you happen to catch the big FPV drone race in Dubai called the World Drone Prix 2016 last weekend? If you did, and if you are anything like me, then your head probably exploded when the dollar figures were dropped. Hey, this is rc, there are no dollars here, so what am I talking about?

How about a cool $250,000 for winning the race (which turned out to be a 15 yr old from England)? Or what about a slick $100,000 for setting fastest lap? Or heck, how about a steamy $100,000 for being named “best team” by the audience? The freestyle winner took home $50,000, and even if you finished 8th place in the main, you still took home a paltry $12,500 for your effort.

But wait… there’s more! For consumer/enthusiasts to get a ticket to just watch the event cost over $40, while seats in the VIP section went for just south of $300. WTF? People actually paying NBA pricing to watch an rc event? My brain was really having problems computing that whole event…

Ok, so the whole Dubai FPV race was pretty much a one-off spectacle, but… other FPV events are also paying out decent cash. It isn’t unusual to see payouts of 10-25k at FPV events, heck, even the MultiGP FPV race at the Drones on the Horizon event in Florida next month has a $2,000 purse.

So… this makes me wonder what some of the factory hotshoes in rc racing are thinking right now. Those guys put in seriously crazy amounts of time, not only building and prepping their cars, but serious time away from their families and friends while away at events, all for jack-diddly-of-nothing put back in their pockets. The most I have ever heard of an rc car guy getting for winning a race was just over 3k, woefully short of even what the guy who finished second in “freestyle” at Dubai took home ($25,000!!!).

Those types of things make me wonder two more things- at what point do some of the top names in surface racing freak’n bail over to quads, and at what point will big name surface races start putting up some serious cash? While at Hobbico’s e-Fest this year I was quite surprised to see a former top notch regional surface racer at the event flying quads. Maybe he just likes quads, or maybe he had already seen the writing on the wall. Instead of throwing tons of hours at surface racing for little to no return, he knew he was very talented, so perhaps those talents were best put towards a style of rc racing that might actually help pay his mortgage. And as far as big surface races putting up more cash, the math is pretty easy. Entry prices are insane at big events now days, ranging from $40 to well over $100 per class, and if you end up with 350 entries, the promoter could be raking in over $35,000 for a weekend of racing. Sure, there are lots of expenses there, but at established tracks they can’t be remotely close to 35k for trophies, advertising, and a track rebuild. Maybe it is about time for some of these tracks to start sharing the wealth instead of putting all of it in their own pocket.

On a different note…

Couple of big things coming up soon here at BigSquidRC.

March Bashness, our annual elimination tournament voted on by you to determine the most popular bash vehicle in the world, gets started later this week! Be sure to vote and to pass the contest around to help support your favorite vehicle.

Also… the BigSquidRC 2016 Spring Bash and Smash takes place at Leisure Hours Raceways in Joliet Illinois on Sunday April 17th. If you are a hardcore basher, mark this one down on your calendar as it will be a “must attend” event. There will be a bunch of different bash events and we’ll even be giving away a new Traxxas X-Maxx to one lucky winner!

So there ya have it, rage about it, discuss it, or just mash your keyboard over it, another Cub Report is complete. As always, get out and support your local hobby shops and bash spots when ya can.